Daily News Updates - Health Insurance News

What’s all this fighting about?, Pt.4 – How bad is the impact?

Previous…

Next, Ms. Pipes explains about the new ‘connector’ mechanism envisioned by Mr. O, called the National Health Insurance Exchange. The purpose of this entity is to ‘connect’ consumers with health insurers in a protective (‘regulated’) environment (‘marketplace’). As she also mentions, the American public will have some options. One is that they can enroll in an “approved private [health] insurance” plan. Another is that they can enroll into the new public plan that Mr. O would create.

Ms. Pipes expresses the concern that, under these new conditions, the costs to health insurance companies and to our nation’s employers would ‘skyrocket’ and would, eventually, “ ‘crowd out’ private insurers.” These valid concerns also warrant individual examination. As far as the employers, Ms. Pipes asserts that the burden placed on employers who do not provide for their workforce could be overbearing. She gives an estimate that the burden could ‘add up to $12,000’ on top of the salary of a new hire with family. Applying the ‘7%-rule’, which Mr. O to assess for coverage of this new hire, that person would have to starting out at a salary of around $171,428.57 per year. So yes, this is a valid figure, but probably not as great of a concern as 48 million Americans with no health insurance, many (if not most) of whom are working low-paying jobs full time, but with no benefits. While it is true there may be some employers who would balk at the thought of spending $12,000 on a prospect they deem to be worth $170,000 a year, this consideration would probably weigh lightly against the 48 million who probably don’t enjoy these options.

Continued…